Medical facilities are typically provided with a centrally piped system for accessing medical gases and for providing clinical vacuum suction. Clinical suction, or aspiration, represents an absolutely necessary tool in all surgical procedures and must be readily available and fully functional in all surgical and procedure suites, as well as in post-surgery recovery areas. Clinical suction is necessary to clear fluids and tissue debris from patients during such surgical procedures and to facilitate physical and visual access to the field of view during the performance of the clinical procedure. The efficiency of a clinical vacuum suction system can be compromised where lint, debris or dried body fluids accumulate over time and work to reduce vacuum system performance. When aspiration becomes slow and difficult, it is imperative that the vacuum system be cleaned. Reduced efficiencies can also result in the failure of the clinical vacuum suction system to comply with certain mandatory regulatory requirements. For example, the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 99, “Health Care Facilities,” regulations cover, among other things, the installation and maintenance of such clinical vacuum systems, requiring that systems maintain a minimum extraction rate in standard cubic feet per minute.
In the view of this inventor, there is a clear need to establish routine preventative maintenance of clinical vacuum suction systems to avoid the accumulation of debris within the system, to prevent suction problems and to ensure the continued good performance of the entire vacuum system, including the vacuum piping system and to the secondary equipment that may be attached to it. In the experience of this inventor, there is a solution to this need, and the solution relates to the introduction of an enzymatic solution into the vacuum piping system in accordance with the present invention.